Belt-clasp.



" 0. w; POWELL.

BELT CLASP; APPLICATION FILED JUNE 15, 1908. I

911,329. V Patented Feb. 2, 1909.

. Mummy:

as. fh

useful Improvement in Belt-Clasps, and debuckle detached from oneanother, Fig.2 showing especially the. obliquely .slidable' tongue piecewhich is adapted to'grip theyleather.

side of which is cut a transverse slot 2. Re

rowstn To all whom it may wac'emw i Be it known'that I, CHARLES W.POWELL, acitizen of the United States, residing at Ypsilanthcount-y ofWashtenaw,-Sta-te of Michigan, have invented a certain new and clare thefollowing to' be a full, clear, and exact-"description of the same, suchas willenable others skilled in the art to which it ertains to make anduse the'fsame, reference eing had to the accompanying drawings, whichform a artof this specification. This invention relates-to belt clasps,and has for its object an improved. device of this type, adapted tofirmly .clasp a belt or strap of leather at any desired point, and holdit against further unintended passage therethrough, without relianceupon or'use of, holes punched in the leather. Inthe drawings: Figurel,is a vertical sectional elevation of the device, with the ends of a beltpassed therethrough, and held in position by the parts thereof. Figs. 2and 3 are perspectives of the parts of the metal 1 indicates a sheetmetal casing, flat and rectangular in outline, near one end 'of onemovably' engaging within this casing is a frame piece 3, whose sideportions are of just the height to fit between the broad side-pieces o te casing, and whose central tabular piece 4 is of a width just a triflesmaller than the. interior breadth dimensions of the side pieces of thecasing 1. .Near one end is a complementary slot 5, which, when the frameis inserted within the casing, is adapted to 'regis ter with theslot 2.When these two slots are inregister, oneend 6 of the strap is insertedat the end of the casing, next adjacent to the slots, and then passedthrough the same and brought around upon itself to any desired distancefor convenient and sightly fasten- 1110;

in each of the side pieces of the frame 3, are oblique slots 7, in whichengage the terminalbearings 8 of the slidablc tongue, piece 9, whose endadjacent thereto is bent substantially right angular therewith toconstitute the strap-engaging edge '10. This tongue may .be manuallyactuated by the users finger, seizing the end 11, and causing the entiretongue 9 to slide with respect to I h I Speeification'ofLefters'fat'ent.

A ucaaaamea a... 15, i9os. '5seau1-uu..4ss,45em.

.the' limits set-by the location and the. movement 0 the natural and by7 r atentedFeli. 2, 1909.

the frame 'andrto the inclosing'casing within of the slots. The other oradjustable'e'nd of the, strap is passed through the casing from the endopposite'to that in which the transverse slots 2 and 5' are located, andcaused to pass the engaging edge 10, and so long as ing is in thisdirection only, the tendency is to slide both this engaging edge portionand the entire tongue 9 toward that face of thecasing in which the slots2 and 5 occur. When, however, a releasing pull is to beattempted and theadjustable end of'the strap is drawn toward the end 11 of the tongue,tendency of the strap to fall against the bottom or slotted side of theeasing actuatessthe engaging edge portion 10.

from its position more. or less near-the end ofthe oblique slot 7adjacent the slots 2 and frictional contact thereagainst draws it uptoward the plane face of the casing; The progress of the edge portion inthis direction is interfered with by the strap end '12, and as the.strain continues, is brought so far up in that direction as to form ineffect a clamp, the other member being the upper side or face 13 of thebelt clasp; it is held in this position very firmly and when once it isset, the stronger the pull thereupon the more tight the clampingengagement becomes. If, however, it is desired 1 to release the same,the pressure of onesfin eragainst the end 11 of the tongue 9 is su cientto force the engaging edge 10, guided as it is by -the movements of theoblique slots 7, away from the strap 12, so that the loose end of thebelt is now freeto move without obstruction through the clasp member.

' What I claim is 1. A belt clasp, comprising an outer casing providedwith a slot near one end, a frame member adapted to engage therein andprovided wit-ha slot adapted to register with said slot in the outercasing, and having in its side walls slots arranged obliquely .to theplane of the portion wherein the regthe strap tlsroughthe casfictionfurther movement with respect to the casing, tion, whereby, incooperation with the n substantially as described. posing face of thecasing, that end 118 '2. A belt clasp, having in combination strapassing therethrough is held from :with an outer casing, a frame adaptedto furt er movement with resgweot thereto, sub- 15 5 engage therein,there bein in each a slot stantially as described.

adapted to register with that in the other In testimony whereof, I sign.this specififor the engagement of one end of the belt cation'in thepresence of two Witnesses.

therethrough, and the side pieces of said CHARLES W. POWELL.

frame being provided with oblique s1ots, i lVitnesses: 1 and a tonguepiece engaging in said slots 1 E. J. GARDNER,

I and adapted to move thereelong to a posi- WM. MURDOOK.

